The Unexplainable
by Cheeseburger of Doom
Summary: Some tennis. A lot of hit and miss. A cheerful grin that gets on the nerves of a tough guy...and a pink tennis racket. Ah, the curiosities of life.


A/N: This is just something that popped into my head suddenly for no apparent reason. Gomen if they're OOC! I warn you -- there's not much plot here!

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The Unexplainable

There are many curiosities in this world, many things that just can't be answered, no matter how much they're analyzed or researched or talked about. There are some things in this world that just _are_...No matter how strange they may seem.

Like, for instance, the fact that Akutsu Jin's tennis racket happened to be pink. He had to be about the one of the scariest people out there, and he was definitely the macho type, but his tennis racket...was pink. A color that had somehow been reserved for girls, or at least girly people.

Was it pink because he'd chosen that particular color, or was it pink because he'd picked up the first racket he'd come across, not caring what the hell color it was? The second event seemed much more likely, but then again, Akutsu was the type who seemed like he would avoid the color pink at all costs -- so why was his racket a brilliant shade of pink?

Curious.

Why this was going through his head, he wasn't sure. He'd noticed Akutsu's pink racket before, naturally -- and he'd had these same thoughts, many times before. They'd been on the same team for quite some time, so he'd had time to reflect on the pinkness of the racket...and time enough to realize that it didn't matter in the slightest why his tennis racket was pink.

Still, it had irked him.

And coming across him like this suddenly, seeing him clutching that pink racket -- it brought up some old memories.

"I thought you stopped playing tennis?"

Akutsu glared at him. Most people would have been made uncomfortable by the look in his eyes, but Sengoku wasn't phased at all. He was used to this by now.

"Why are you here?" Akutsu demanded, annoyed at the new presence.

"Because it's out of the way and I wanted to be by myself. But obviously you had the same idea, and had it before me."

"Right. I was here first. So leave."

"You can't really play by yourself, you know."

"Neither can you," Akutsu pointed out. He sounded more than a little annoyed -- or maybe that was just because his voice was always harsh.

"That's true. So I guess finding you here was pretty lucky!"

Akutsu's eye twitched. "I've heard that one too many times."

"Oh? Is that the real reason you left the team?" Sengoku had to laugh at the unchanging expression on Akutsu's face. "Shall we play?"

"No."

"Fine." 

A long silence stretched out before them. It still didn't phase Sengoku. He was just one of those cheerful types who kept trying, no matter what. He was here to practice, and practice he was going to. He wasn't going to be able to change his tennis without getting to work!

"You never answered my question," he said. 

"What question?"

"Well, why are you here? I thought you weren't going to play tennis anymore."

"I don't play anymore."

"..." Sengoku pointed to the racket -- the pink racket. "Then what are you doing with that?"

Akutsu stared at the thing in his hand as if he hadn't noticed it there before. "I wasn't playing tennis. Like you said, I can't play by myself."

"That's true enough. But why are you here with the racket?"

"I think I'll use the racket for something more useful, like smashing in a few faces," Akutsu said, tapping the racket against his own face. 

"As fun as that sounds, are you sure you don't want to play a game with me? I always thought your style was interesting, if a little scary."

Akutsu's glare could do nothing to dim the grin on Sengoku's face. He was just that kind of guy.

Finally, Akutsu shrugged, and he and Sengoku faced each other on opposite sides of the court.

"Ho, so Akutsu finally agrees to play! I really am lucky, after all!"

"Would you quit that?"

"Sorry, sorry!" Sengoku served. The game began.

"Why are you here?" Akutsu asked. He didn't usually like to admit to curiousity, but since Sengoku was asking him so many questions, he figured he was entitled to ask a couple of his own.

"To change my tennis!" Sengoku replied.

Hit, return. Miss. Serve. Return. Hit. Hit. Hit. Miss.

"Because I keep losing!"

Hit. Hit. Hit. Miss.

"You lost?" Damn. That sounded like curiosity again. Akutsu decided he really didn't like Sengoku. Of course he hated everyone and everything, but he really disliked Sengoku for this.

"Again! To Kamio-kun of Fudomine...Ah, this game is yours! Maybe I'm going to lose to you too..."

Akutsu snorted. "This is already boring."

"Then I guess I'd better start playing better!" Sengoku said, in that damn cheerful voice of his.

Serve. Hit, hit...

"Tennis is boring," Akutsu said.

"You already said that..."

"No, I said that this game is boring. Tennis itself is boring!"

"So you've said. But you didn't leave the club because you thought it was boring, did you?"

"..."

"You left because Echizen-kun beat you!"

A particularly violent return whizzed passed Sengoku's head -- just missing taking that head off.

Akutsu threw his (pink) racket to the ground. It clattered noisily while Akutsu glared at the still-grinning Sengoku.

"Because he beat you at something you thought was stupid. I think you liked winning all the time with no effort, didn't you? It proved you were tough."

"..."

"Maa, I don't know too much about you, though. It's just speculation. Are we going to finish the game or are you going to walk away in a huff now?"

"Let's finish the damn game."

"Lucky!"

"I told you to stop doing that!"

Akutsu came out the victor at the end of the game.

"Hm...not so lucky after all," Sengoku sighed. "Yes, I have to change my tennis. Then maybe I can even beat the scary Akutsu."

"I won't be playing anymore."

"You said that before, but you're here today, aren't you?"

"Shut up."

Sengoku grinned. "That wasn't a very strong argument, Akutsu-kun!"

"Ah, I'm going home now," Akutsu muttered.

"Ne, Akutsu."

"What?"

"Why is your tennis racket pink?"

"None of your damn business."

"I thought you might say that." Sengoku did that grin again. Akutsu heaved a long-suffering sigh, slung his bag over his shoulder, and started off for home. Sengoku remained behind, presumably to start changing his tennis, or something.

There are many curiosities in this world, many things that just can't be answered, no matter how much they're analyzed or researched or talked about. There are some things in this world that just _are_...No matter how strange they may seem.

Like, for instance, the fact that Sengoku Kiyosumi's bloody cheerful grin got on Akutsu's nerves, but for some reason, he hadn't bothered to maim or kill the orange-haired boy that day. He hadn't really wanted to. Strange, indeed.


End file.
